This invention relates generally to a percutaneous connector and more particlarly to a connector which includes a bio-compatible shell that is implanted under the skin of a patient.
The medical community has long been aware that movement could be induced in living muscle fibers by electrical impulses. Further, tiny platinum wires, attached to small pads on selective nerves, can be brought through the surface of the skin and attached to external power supplies to move the associated muscles. By selection of the proper type of electrical stimulation, the muscle movement is predictable and repeatable. However, since the epithelial layer of skin will not form a union with the platinum wires which will resist the entry of bacteria, the direct application of this knowledge had to wait for the development of materials suitable for a permanent percutaneous implant.
Various percutaneous conduit devices such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,965 have been developed for facilitating the passages of wires and the like through the skin without rejection. One suitable conduit device is constructed of vitreous carbon.
While the problem of rejection has been minimized, there still remains the problem of implanting a shell which is bio-compatible with the skin so that such can remain permanently in the patient's body and connections can be readily made thereto. Permanent connections are not suitable in that if the lead feeding thereto is accidentally pulled, such could possibly dislodge the implanted shell.